Joomla! A User’s Guide: Building a Successful Joomla! Powered Website

Joomla! A User’s Guide: Building a Successful Joomla! Powered Website

by Barrie M. North
Released December 2007
Publisher(s): Pearson
ISBN: 9780136135609

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

The First Easy-to-Use Guide to Joomla!-The World’s #1 Open Source Content Management System

If you want to build sophisticated websites that can be easily edited and updated, you need to master Joomla!-the world’s #1 open source content management system. Now there’s an easy-to-read, easy-to-use guide to Joomla! for every site manager, administrator, and developer. Leading Joomla! consultant Barrie North covers all you need to get results: installation, administration, site organization, template development, content updates, and a whole lot more. You’ll find never-before-published tips, tricks, and troubleshooting solutions, as well as three start-to-finish case studies.

New to Joomla? No problem! This book starts with the simplest design and system concepts, and builds your expertise step-by-step. You’ll rapidly master Joomla!’s power, even if you have no content management, scripting, or CSS expertise. Experienced with Joomla!? You’ll turn to this book constantly for its authoritative, plain-English, example-rich Joomla! 1.0 and 1.5 reference content.

·   Understanding content management, what Joomla! does, and how its components fit together

·   Building Joomla! sites from scratch, and systematically customizing them to your needs

·   Organizing content with sections, categories, blogs, and tables

·   Creating dynamic pages and effective navigation

·   Working with Joomla! modules and components

·   Search engine optimization for Joomla! sites

·   Start-to-finish case studies: building a school website, an e-commerce site, and a blog

·   The most valuable Joomla! extensions and add-ons: finding them, and using them

·   Key differences between Joomla! 1.0 and 1.5, and what they mean to you

About the Website

The accompanying site for the Joomla 1.5 book, provides five fully functional Joomla! sites with live follow-along examples from the book and up-to-date information on Joomla! The site also includes

  • An active forum where you can ask questions specific to chapters from the book from a Joomla expert 

  • 5 fully functional Joomla 1.5 live follow-along examples from the book. You can browse the sites and their backends live online.

  • Downloads of 5 free websites for Joomla 1.5 based on various chapter of the book. These are SQL dumps you can import to instantly give you a completed Joomla site. 

  • 4 free tutorial templates and 3 free templates from joomlashack.com including the popular commercial template - JS Aqualine!

    •

    Table of contents

    1. Copyright
      1. Dedication
    2. Praise for Joomla!: A Users Guide
    3. Preface
      1. The Purpose of This Book
      2. This Book’s Target Audience
      3. How Should I Use This Book?
        1. Chapter 1: Content Management Systems and an Introduction to Joomla!
        2. Chapter 2: Downloading and Installing Joomla!
        3. Chapter 3: Joomla! Administration Basics
        4. Chapter 4: Content Is King: Organizing Your Content
        5. Chapter 5: Creating Menus and Navigation
        6. Chapter 6: Extending Joomla!
        7. Chapter 7: Expanding Your Content: Articles and Editors
        8. Chapter 8: Getting Traffic to Your Site
        9. Chapter 9: Creating a Pure CSS Template
        10. Chapter 10: Creating a School Site with Joomla!
        11. Chapter 11: Creating a Restaurant Site with Joomla!
        12. Chapter 12: Creating a Blog Site with Joomla!
        13. Appendix A: Getting Help
        14. Appendix B: Joomla! Case Studies
        15. Appendix C: A Quick Start to SEO
        16. Appendix D: Install WAMP5
      4. What Is a Content Management System?
        1. Why Use a CMS?
      5. What Is Open Source Software?
      6. Things To Look For
      7. Joomla!
      8. www.Joomlabook.com
    4. Acknowledgments
    5. About the Author
    6. 1. Content Management Systems and an Introduction to Joomla!
      1. What Is a Content Management System?
        1. Static Web Pages
        2. Cascading Style Sheet Web Pages
        3. Dynamic Web Pages
        4. Open Source
      2. History of Joomla
        1. Joomla Community
        2. Third-party Extensions Development
      3. Joomla’s Features
      4. Elements of a Joomla Website
        1. Content
        2. Modules
        3. Templates
      5. Summary
    7. 2. Downloading and Installing Joomla!
      1. How Do I Install Joomla?
        1. Where Can I Find the Most Current Joomla Files?
        2. Unpacking Joomla on a Local Desktop Computer
        3. Unpacking on a Hosting Account
        4. Running the Joomla Installation Wizard
          1. Step 1: Choose the Language
          2. Step 2: Pre-Installation Check
          3. Step 3: License
          4. Step 4: Database Configuration
          5. Step 5: FTP Configuration
          6. Step 6: Main Configuration
          7. Step 7: Finish
      2. Summary
    8. 3. Joomla! Administration Basics
      1. What Is the Frontend and Backend of a Joomla-powered Website?
        1. Menu Bar
        2. Toolbar
        3. Workspace
        4. Administrator Functions in the Menu Bar
        5. Site Submenu
          1. Control Panel
          2. User Manager and Access Control Levels
          3. Media Manager
          4. Configuration
        6. Menus
        7. Content
        8. The Component Menu
          1. Components
          2. Modules
          3. Plugin
          4. Language
        9. Extensions
          1. Install/Uninstall
          2. Module Manager
          3. Plugin Manager
          4. Template Manager
          5. Language Manager
        10. Tools
        11. Global Checkin
        12. Help
        13. Site Preview
      2. Summary
    9. 4. Content Is King: Organizing Your Content
      1. How Does Joomla Generate Web Pages?
      2. How Does Joomla Organize Content Articles?
        1. Uncategorized Articles
        2. Sections and Categories
          1. Sections
          2. Categories
          3. Articles
        3. Sample Hierarchy
          1. Plan the Sections
          2. Plan the Categories
          3. Plan the Articles
      3. Creating the Widget Inc. Website with Uncategorized Content
        1. Creating Content Articles
        2. Creating Menu Items
        3. Front Page Component
      4. Creating Widget Inc. with Sections and Categories
        1. Creating Sections
        2. Creating Categories
        3. Creating Content Articles
        4. Creating Menu Items
          1. Linking to Components
        5. “Read More” Links and Individual Pages
      5. Module Content
      6. Summary
    10. 5. Creating Menus and Navigation
      1. How Do Menus and Modules Work Together?
      2. What Do Menu Items Do?
        1. Creating a Menu Item
        2. Where Does a Menu Item Link To?
        3. What Does a Page Look Like After Following a Link?
          1. Continuing our Widget Company Site Example
      3. Blog Layout
        1. Blog Layout Parameters
          1. Basic Parameters
          2. Advanced Parameters
          3. Component Parameters
          4. System Parameters
      4. List/Standard Layout for a Section
        1. Section List/Standard Layout Parameters
      5. List/Standard Layout for a Blog
        1. Category List/Standard Layout Parameters
      6. Module Manager
        1. Module Parameters
          1. Show Title
          2. Position
          3. Access Level
          4. Module Parameters
          5. Menu and Module Class Suffixes (Advanced Parameters)
          6. Menu Assignment
      7. Submenus
      8. Summary
    11. 6. Extending Joomla!
      1. What Are Extensions?
      2. Installing Extensions
      3. Managing Extensions
      4. Components
        1. Core Components
        2. Third-party Components
          1. Jom Comment (Comments)—http://www.jom-comment.com
          2. joomlaXplorer (File Manager)—http://joomlacode.org/gf/project/joomlaxplorer/
          3. Community Builder (User Management)—http://www.joomlapolis.com/
          4. SlideShowPro for Joomla (Gallery)—http://www.joomlashack.com
          5. VirtueMart (Shopping Cart)—http://virtuemart.net/
          6. Joomap (Sitemap)—http://joomlacode.org/gf/project/joomap/
          7. Mosets Tree (Directory)—http://www.mosets.com/tree/
          8. perForms (Forms)—http://joomlacode.org/gf/project/performs
          9. Remository (File/document Manager)—http://www.remository.com/
          10. JCal Pro (Calendar)—http://dev.anything-digital.com/
      5. Modules
        1. Module Display
        2. Core Modules
          1. Core Content Modules
          2. Core Component-Related Modules
          3. Core Miscellaneous Modules
        3. Third-party Modules
          1. JPG Flash Rotator 2 (Image Rotator)—http://www.joomlashack.com
          2. Jumi—http://www.vedeme.cz
          3. AdSense Module—http://www.joomlaspan.com
      6. Plugins
        1. Core Plugins
        2. Third-party Plugins
          1. WysiwygPro (Editor)—http://www.wysiwyg-pro.com
          2. Plugin Googlemaps—http://joomlacode.org/gf/project/mambot_google1/
      7. Templates
        1. Core Templates
        2. Third-party Templates
      8. Summary
    12. 7. Expanding Your Content: Articles and Editors
      1. WYSIWYG Editors
        1. Managing WYSIWYG Editors
        2. Other Third-Party Editors
      2. Creating and Managing Articles
      3. Managing Content Through the Backend
        1. Adding Content from the Backend
          1. Longer Articles and the Read More Button
          2. Basic Parameters
          3. Advanced Parameters
          4. Metadata Information
        2. Inserting Images into Content
          1. Editing Image Properties
        3. Creating an Article Table of Contents
        4. Section and Category Descriptions
        5. Article Content Preferences
      4. Managing Content Through The Frontend
        1. Creating a Frontend User Menu
        2. Limiting Access to Menus by User Level
        3. Authors
        4. Editors
        5. Publishers
      5. Article Checkin
      6. Summary
    13. 8. Getting Traffic to Your Site
      1. Start at the Beginning: Site Goals
      2. Organic Traffic (SEO)
        1. Introduction to Google
          1. How Does Google Calculate Page Relevance?
          2. Link Popularity
        2. Creating Keywords
        3. Keywords and Domain Name
        4. Designing Your Site for Organic Traffic
          1. Web Standards and Accessibility
          2. Basic Things that Influence SERP
            1. (Incoming) Anchor Text of Links—2.3% and Up
            2. Title Tag—2.3%
            3. Keyword Use in Document Text—2.2%
            4. Accessibility of Document—2.2%
            5. Links to Document from Site-Internal Pages—2.1%
            6. Primary Subject Matter of Site—2.1%
            7. External Links to Linking Pages—2.0%
            8. Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community—2.0%
            9. Global Link Popularity of Site—1.9%
            10. Keyword Spamming—1.9%
        5. Advanced SEO Techniques
          1. Boosting Your Site’s Keyword Density
            1. Keyword Placement in the <title> Tag
            2. <h1> and <h2> Tags to Emphasize Keywords
            3. Using Keywords in Your Article Titles
            4. Incorporating Keywords into Body Text
      3. Referral Traffic
        1. Google PageRank
        2. Using WebFerret to Find Websites
        3. Other Link-Building Strategies
        4. Internal Linking
          1. Joomla Linked Titles and Read More
          2. Sitemaps
          3. Google Sitemap
      4. Pay-Per-Click Traffic
        1. How Google Adwords Works
        2. Joomla and Adwords
      5. Email Traffic
        1. Joomla Email Newsletter Extensions
        2. Third-Party Hosted Email Solutions
          1. Constant Contact
            1. Support
            2. Integration Into Joomla
            3. Pricing
          2. Get Response
            1. Support
            2. Integration Into Joomla
            3. Pricing
          3. iContact
            1. Support
            2. Integration Into Joomla
            3. Pricing
          4. J!Contact: An Integration of iContact and Joomla
      6. Joomla SEF Extensions
      7. Summary
    14. 9. Creating a Pure CSS Template
      1. What Is a Joomla Template?
      2. Localhost Design Process
        1. Localhost Server Options
      3. W3C and Tableless Design
        1. Semantically Correct Code
        2. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
      4. Creating a Simple Template
        1. The Template File Components
          1. templateDetails.xml
          2. index.php
          3. What Else Is in index.php?
        2. Blank Joomla Template Body
        3. CSSTemplateTutorialStep1
      5. Using CSS to Create a Tableless Layout
        1. Default CSS
        2. Joomla-Specific CSS
        3. Modules in Templates
        4. Menus in Templates
        5. Hiding Columns
          1. Hiding Module Code
        6. CSSTemplateTutorialStep2
      6. Making a Real Joomla 1.5 Template
        1. Slicing and Dicing
        2. Setting Up Module Locations
        3. Header
        4. Column Backgrounds
        5. Flexible Modules
        6. Typography
        7. CSSTemplateTutorialStep3
      7. Advanced Templating Features
        1. Template Parameters
        2. Template Overrides
          1. Override Structure
          2. Overriding Modules
          3. Component Overrides
        3. Tableless Joomla
        4. CSSTemplateTutorialStep4
      8. Summary
    15. 10. Creating a School Site with Joomla!
      1. Why Do We Need a School Website?
        1. Students
        2. Teachers and Administrators
        3. Parents
      2. What Features Do We Need on a School Site?
      3. Downloading and Installing a School Template
        1. Education Template Features and Positions
        2. Configuring the Search Box
        3. Configuring the Main Horizontal Drop-down Menu
      4. Organizing Content on a School Website
      5. Creating the Menus
      6. Building Out Content
      7. Creating Subnavigation
        1. Academics Submenu
        2. Creating News Links for a Section
      8. Setting Up the Footer
      9. Setting Up the Home Page
      10. Adding Basic Functionality to a School Website
        1. User Registration
          1. A Small School
          2. A Medium-sized School
          3. A Large School
        2. Events Calendar
        3. Downloadable Documents
        4. Polls
        5. Staff Directory
        6. Email Newsletter
        7. RSS
        8. Random Image
        9. Sitemap
      11. Extending the School Website Beyond the Basics
      12. Summary
    16. 11. Creating a Restaurant Site with Joomla!
      1. Why Does a Restaurant Need a Website?
      2. What Features Does a Restaurant Website Need?
      3. Downloading and Installing a Restaurant Template
      4. Organizing the Content on a Restaurant Website
      5. Building Content Articles with Lorem Ipsum
      6. Creating Menus
      7. Setting Up the Home Page
        1. Home Page Alternative to the Front Page Manager
        2. Creating Footer Content
        3. Creating Module Teaser Blocks
          1. Newsflash Module
          2. Linking to Articles from Within Content
      8. Using Stock Imagery
      9. Extending a Restaurant Website
        1. Image Gallery: JPG Flash Rotator 2
        2. Calendar: JCal Pro
        3. Email Marketing
        4. Google Maps
      10. Summary
    17. 12. Creating a Blog Site with Joomla!
      1. What Is a Blog?
      2. Why Have a Blog?
        1. What Options Are There for Blogging?
      3. What Features Are Needed on a Blog Site?
      4. Downloading and Installing a Blog Template
        1. Aqualine Template Features and Positions
        2. Configuring the Logo
        3. Configuring the Main Horizontal Drop-down Menu
      5. Organizing Content on a Blog
        1. Organizing a Blog Within a Larger Site
        2. Organizing a Standalone Blog
        3. About Tagging
        4. Creating the Menus
          1. Creating the Main Menu
          2. Creating a Submenu to Categories
        5. Adding Dynamic Modules
          1. Adding Latest News Module
          2. Adding Most Read Content Module
          3. Adding Related Items Module
        6. Adding Static Modules
          1. Adding the Footer
          2. Adding a Blogroll
      6. Adding Basic Functionality to a Blog
        1. Flexible Layout
        2. Browser-based Editing
        3. Automated Publishing
        4. Categories
        5. Search Engine Optimized URLs
        6. Comment Systems
          1. J! Reactions
          2. Jomcomment
          3. ComboMAX
        7. Syndication Feeds
        8. Email Notification
        9. Search
        10. Trackback
      7. Extending a Blog Website Beyond the Basics
        1. Forums
        2. Ecommerce
      8. Summary
    18. A. Getting Help
      1. Community Forums
      2. Help Sites
      3. Getting Help from Google
    19. B. Joomla! Case Studies
      1. Six Case Studies for Organizations That Use Joomla
        1. www.yourwedding.com.au (MP Media)
          1. John Paoloni, Owner
        2. www.longwoodfl.org (City of Longwood, Florida)
          1. Ryan I. Spinella, Executive Assistant
        3. www.ropl.org (Royal Oak Public Library—Michigan)
          1. Eric Hayes. Technology Specialist
        4. www.telx.com (The Telx Group, Inc.)
          1. Michael Di Martino, Director of MIS
        5. www.nzmac.com (NZMac.com)
          1. Philip Roy, Webmaster
        6. www.everythingtreo.com (Everything Treo)
          1. Christopher Meinck
      2. Summary
    20. C. A Quick Start to SEO
      1. 1. Keyword Use in Title Tag
      2. 2. Anchor Text of Inbound Link
      3. 3. Global Link Popularity of Site (PageRank)
      4. 4. Age of Site
      5. 5. Link Popularity Within the Site
      6. 6. Topical Relevance of Inbound Links and Popularity of Linking Site
      7. 7. Link Popularity of Site in Topic Community
      8. 8. Keyword Use in Body Text
      9. 9. File Size
      10. 10. Clean URL
      11. 11. Utilize Your Error Pages
      12. What’s Not Here?
    21. D. Installing WAMP5

    Product information

    • Title: Joomla! A User’s Guide: Building a Successful Joomla! Powered Website
    • Author(s): Barrie M. North
    • Release date: December 2007
    • Publisher(s): Pearson
    • ISBN: 9780136135609